Economic and Life Cycle Assessment of integrated wood and chips harvesting from hybrid poplar plantations in the Genil Valley (Spain).

Comparison with chips harvesting from Poplar SRCs

FORMEC 2016 – From Theory to Practice: Challenges for Forest Engineering

September 4 – 7, 2016, Warsaw, Poland

Rubén Laina, Eduardo Tolosana, Sara J. Herrero

FOREST ENGINEER SCHOOL, UNIVERSIDAD POLITÉCNICA DE MADRID, SPAIN

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INTRODUCTION

• Fast growing rate, resistance to frost, re-sprouting capacity (buscar datos europeos)

• Roundwood combined with chips production is currently a sustainable activity. 90 thousands ha poplar plantations

• Could poplar SRC be a profitable alternative in abandoned farm-land?

• SRC is still a “promise” (all SRC for bioenergy are a promise in Spain), subsidies cutback, investment barriers, electricity consumptions decreasing, ¿heat production?

Environmental and economic analysis of wood and chips from poplar plantation

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INTRODUCTION Integrated plantations Vs Short Rotation Coppice

• Stake holders

Environmental impact

• Everybody

• Policy makers

• Scientist

Economic analysis

• Landowner

• Logging companies

• Scientist

Environmental and economic analysis of wood and chips from poplar plantation

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• Goals

To identify phases to improve according results of LCA and economic analysis

To compare chips production from integrated and SRC alternative

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INTRODUCTION

Environmental and economic analysis of wood and chips from poplar plantation

Methodology

Life cycle assesment

Simapro Recipe

Funcional unit:

hectare

Economic analysis

NPV and IRR

“Funcional unit: €/ha”

5 Environmental and economic analysis of wood and chips from poplar plantation

LOCATION

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Methodology

Data from a time study, local landowners and logging companies.

Methodology System boundaries

Integrated system

• Wood & Chips

• 10 year

• Yield (tops and branches 3,6 o.d.t /ha year)

• From plantation to mill

Poplar SRC

• Chips

• 3+3+3+3 years

• 17,9 o.d.t /year ha

• From plantation to mill

Environmental and economic analysis of wood and chips from poplar plantation

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Harvesting description

Integrated

• Chainsaw+light backhoe excavator with processing head

SRC

• Claas Jaguar chip forager

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METHODOLOGY SYSTEM BOUNDARIES

Integrated

• Telescopic boom loader for piling

• Chipper attached to tractor Pezzolato PTH 480/660

• Loading and transport 25 km semi-trailer truck

SRC

• Unloading over a tráiler + farm tractor

• Loading and transport 25 km semi-trailer truck

Methodology system boundaries: Harvesting description

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Results and discussion

Normalized analysis of the environmental performance of poplar plantation for wood and chips

10 Environmental and economic analysis of wood and chips from poplar plantation

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5 5 1 3 1 0

61

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MARINE ECOTOXICITY

Simapro 3.0 Model: USES-LCA 2.0 (Huijbregts et al., 2005) 11

Results and discussion

3,09

1,47

0,00

0,79 0,91

Disposal, nickelsmelter slag, 0%

water, to residualmaterial landfill/CH U

Disposal, sulfidictailings, off-site/GLO

U

Phosphoric acid,fertiliser grade, 70%in H2O, at plant/MA

U

Disposal, spoil fromlignite mining, in

surface landfill/GLO U

Disposal, spoil fromcoal mining, in

surface landfill/GLO U

HARVESTING MARINE ECOTOXICITY KG 1,4-DB- EQ

Piling and chipping 47% of contribution 12

Results and discussion

Environmental impact

Logs 83%

Chips 17%

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Results and discussion

Mass criteria allocation

Environmental and economic analysis of wood and chips from poplar plantation

Environmental comparision Integrated Vs SRC

Ratio SRC/Integrated Climate change 2,2

Terrestrial acidification 5,0

Freshwater eutrophication 3,0

Marine eutrophication 20,3

Human toxicity 2,0

Photochemical oxidant formation 1,4

Particulate matter formation 2,6

Terrestrial ecotoxicity 4,0

Freshwater ecotoxicity 2,7

Marine ecotoxicity 1,2

Water depletion 4,0

Metal depletion 0,8

Fossil depletion 2,9

Functional unit: dried tonnes

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Results and discussion

Economic analysis

-9 521

-2 313 -2 028

-3 737

-1 147 -889 -1 781

-3 714

-463

24 173

3 285

AGREGATED AND "FUTURE" VALUES (€)

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Results and discussion

Economic comparison

Integrated SRC

Operational cost -23,569 -29,860

Roundwood selling 24.173,50 0

Chips selling 3.285 18.098,60

Annualized NPV (€·ha-1·year-1) 271 -719

IRR (%) 7,30% Negative

Harvesting&Transport

Integrated SRC

3.714 8.399

Units: €

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Results and discussion

CONCLUSIONS

• It is important to remark than “fertilization” showed strong influence in environmental issues but does not in economic balance.

• Irrigation phase has strong contribution to environmental and economic performance and it is a difference with northern European countries.

• Harvesting phase is the most important one for environmental impact and the third one in economic analysis. Hence, the process optimization efforts should be addressed to the harvesting operations, which mechanization degree is low.

• Integrated roundwood and woodchips harvesting show less environmental impacts and better economic results that poplar energy crops.

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Environmental and economic analysis of wood and chips from poplar plantation

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